


boldness be my friend,

by Raging_Nerd



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Afterlife, Ben Hargreeves Deserves the World, Crack Treated Seriously, Ducks, F/M, Finding Oneself, First Crush, Fluff and Crack, Friendship, Gen, How Do I Tag, Light Angst, Loneliness, POV Ben Hargreeves, Pets, Reginald Hargreeves' A+ Parenting, also
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-19
Updated: 2019-08-21
Packaged: 2020-09-07 10:23:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20307931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raging_Nerd/pseuds/Raging_Nerd
Summary: God sighs. "Sometimes before the dead can leave, there's something they need to accomplish here first. Not always, but usually." She frowns. "And then, some are so insistent on spending the rest of their days wallowing on earth, we let them go because their wailing and screaming disrupts the peace."Ben looks around him, panic settling deep in his bones."So I'm stuck here?" he asks, wincing as his voice cracks at the end. She laughs at this, nodding.or,Ben and God form and unlikely friendship as the author delves into The Umbrella Academy's afterlife.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm so excited for this guys!
> 
> Please enjoy it!

**Chapter One**

Ben dies when he is sixteen. 

He hears his family's tears and choked back sobs, as he watches them in the infirmary that smells like blood, sweat, and, well,  _ tears _ .

He watches until the Hargreeves house disappears from his sight, replaced by a soft, baby blue sky with fluffy white clouds that look like cotton candy.

Ben thinks he might be in heaven, he decides from his place on the floor, frowning at his marred uniform, torn to shreds and covered in dry blood from the mission that ended his life. His hair is matted with patches of dark liquid that may be his or belong to another. He reeks of death, and the smell makes him sick, mouth curling in disgust as he gags.

Standing is not as hard as he thought it would be, considering the eldritch beings did tear him apart. But his body is in one piece, so this  _ has _ to be heaven.

The ringing bell of a bike is what pulls him out of his thoughts, turning towards the sound, curiously. 

There's a teenage girl who stops right in front of him, and everything she wears is grey and white (but from the light tones, he can tell they're variations of pinks). He can't tell where she would be from, but he likes the way her long black hair falls down behind her.

He thinks it might be longer than Vanya's, and that says a lot.

She snapped her fingers, and he meets her gaze awkwardly of course, but he does it nonetheless. 

"You're dead," she says, flatly, and Ben nods.

"I'm dead," he confirms, frowning as he looks at her. "Who are you?"

"Some people call me God," she says, kicking down the stand of her bike and getting off of it. Ben watches as she cracks her knuckles, gaze following nothing in particular.

"But I wasn't religious?" he says, and she looks at him unimpressed.

"Was that a question or a statement, because that  _ sure _ sounded like you were asking yourself," God deadpans, and Ben rubs his neck, looking around him. Everything is black and white, save for the sky. He wonders why he didn't notice before.

"It was a statement," he says after a minute, and the girl rolls her eyes.

"If you weren't religious in any way or form, you'd see me," she explains. "If you were a Christian or a Buddhist or --" she shrugs, exasperated at her own explanation. "-- a Moslem, for example, you'd see whatever god you believe in."

Ben nods again, and God raises an eyebrow in his direction.

"You don't talk much do you?" she asks, and Ben looks down at her before shaking his head. A snort leaves her small frame. "Then, what  _ do _ you do?"

He looks down at his uniform, shrugging. "I read."

God follows his gaze, giving his clothes a once over before snapping her fingers. Ben gapes at his now clean clothes that consisted of a black hood, black boots, and black everything else. He looks at her with wide eyes.

"I'm guessing you want to go see your brother, right?" she asks, getting back on her bike. Ben nods quickly.

"It's relatively simple," she says. "Just think of where you want to go, and go."

Ben looks up at her, confused. "You can't just snap me over there?" he asks, and God shakes her head.

"It's important that the dead can figure it out themselves," she says. There's a beat of silence. "It's also kinda fun not to help."

He huffs, rolling his eyes, earning a laugh from God herself.

Ben knows he didn't know Klaus very well. In all honesty, he didn't know any of his siblings very well, save for Vanya and Five, but they were special cases. Now that he's dead, he has an opportunity to right some wrongs he made as a child.

He tunes out her voice, and instead, thinks of Klaus' room. Thinks of where his brother would be drowning in his thoughts, and drugs, and alcohol. Thinks of where he'd be curled up on his bed. Thinks of where he won't be able to rub his brother's back and tell him it will be okay.

He thinks, and he thinks, and then he throws his hands up, angry.

"Why isn't it working?!" he yelled, turning to look at God accusingly. She shrugs nonchalantly, much to his annoyance. 

"You just aren't ready to leave the afterlife yet," she says, and he glares at her.

"What do you mean  _ 'I'm not ready?' _ " he inquires, body relaxing slowly.

God sighs. "Sometimes before the dead can leave, there's something they need to accomplish here first. Not always, but usually." She frowns. "And then, some are so insistent on spending the rest of their days wallowing on earth, we let them go because their wailing and screaming disrupts the peace."

Ben looks around him, panic settling deep in his bones.

"So I'm stuck here?" he asks, wincing as his voice cracks at the end. She laughs at this, nodding.

There are no words shared between them for another minute or two, with the only sound being God's laughter. Then she's peddling away, yelling at him from over her shoulder.

"There's a library down this way, if you want to come," she says, and Ben contemplates if he really wants to go.

He wants to see Klaus, yes, see his whole family, actually, but he's stuck here until further notice, so he might as well make do, right?

Ben looks up to see the girl stopped not too far in front of him. She's frowning. Typical.

"You coming, Ben Hargreeves?" she asks, and he wants to know how she knows his name, but then he remembers she's God, so he starts running ahead.

"Sure," he says when he's close enough, and she nods, biking at a moderate pace that he can run after.

He rolls his eyes, trying his best to breathe and run together. He still finds it difficult -- endurance shouldn't be required in death -- despite his training as a child. "Isn't God supposed to be loving?" he yells after her, glaring daggers in her direction.

She laughs, turning to look at him, a mischievous grin on her face. "Not this one," she teases, biking faster to his dismay.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

They end up in a waffle house.

Ben has a pile of books he checked out from the library beside him on the table, securely packed away in a bag he grabbed from the counter at the makeshift IHOP. He glances at God -- he's eating_ waffles _with_ God_ \-- before taking a bite out of one of his chocolate chip waffles. 

She looks up at him from he own seat, frowning at the knife and fork, glaring at the waffles accusingly. She blows him a raspberry when he snorts. "Look at your own plate, asshole," she hisses, stabbing her waffle stack with a knife.

They left the library after she called him a "boring, dumb, nerd," who "probably gets off by reading books." He turned an angry shade of red, checking out his books via the automatic machines, before marching after her hysterical laughter as she rode in front of him.

She gives up on trying to eat it after she bites a piece of her waffle too aggressively. God takes a drink of her strawberry milkshake, sticking her tongue out when the flavour hits her. Ben watches as she grabs his vanilla frappe, taking a sip before switching their drinks out completely. He glares at her.

God leans on the table, removing her hat to stare at him, and Ben finds himself withering under her gaze.

"Aren't you gonna ask me more questions about the afterlife?" she asks, and Ben looks away from her, glancing back only to look away again. She sighs, pulling back. "Is that a no? You seem kind of awkward, Benny," she remarks, and he rolls his eyes at the nickname.

"I want to know more about what I need to accomplish and the qualifications to leave here," he says, eyes cast down on his hands that were currently cutting up his waffle.

God hums, tapping her fingers against the table's surface before standing, his vanilla frappe still in her hand. "Let me show you something," she says, walking out of the waffle house. He rushes after her, book bag on his back as he stops by her as she gets on her bike. She glances down at the seat, sighing heavily before snapping her fingers.

She gestures behind her.

"Get in the backseat, and pedal," she commands, and Ben wastes no time listening to her, feet moving in perfect motion with her as they pedal along the way.

Despite its black and white colouring, the afterlife was absolutely gorgeous. In the distance Ben could see rolling hills and sandy beaches, tall mountains and different variations of greenery. Every now and then there would be a house, and Ben found himself wondering if anyone lived there.

They come to a stop in front of a park, and Ben follows after God as she gets off the bike.

There's a fountain in the middle of it, with swings and a jungle gym. Along the sides are some chess tables and everything else that would be at a park.

God snaps her fingers, and he turns to look at her.

"The park is nice," she says. "I made it."

He claps cheekily as he rolls his eyes, earning a snort from her. 

"But we're not here for the park, we're here for the neighborhood just beyond the park," God says, and Ben follows her gaze to the houses that line the street beyond her outstretched arm.

"Sometimes, when the dead can't find our what they need to do, I give them houses if they've given up," she explains, crossing her arms. "But then somehow, they manage to figure it out, and go to the land of the living to haunt their loved ones."

Ben nods slowly. "Are you giving me a house?"

God snorts. "Fuck no."

He sighs, and she laughs as she continues.

"So this street and everything on it, has been slowly emptying out for the last, I don't know --" her nose wrinkles as she thinks, and Ben watches her face with slight amusement. "-- one hundred and fifty years, give or take."

Ben turns to look at the houses and park.

"This place is deserted," he whispers, and God gives him a dry look.

"That's what I implied, dumbass."

He looks at her, a lame expression smeared across his face, and she laughs loudly.

Just then, the bark of a dog causes them to turn around, and Ben's eyes widen when he sees an old grey haired man with his pet. From the looks of it, the dog was probably a corgi.

God groans from beside him, gesturing for him to lean over.

"That's Mr. Spee. He never leaves even though he can," she tells him, frowning at the man. Ben shrugs, waving shyly.

Mr. Spee smiles. "Hello, young man," he exclaims loudly. "It is a pleasure to have some new faces around here, don't you think my dear?" he adds, turning to God.

She glares at him, ignoring his question. This doesn't seem to deter Mr. Spee at all.

"And what might your name be, young man?" he asks, slapping Ben's shoulder with his free hand (the other one was holding the corgi), and Ben winces.

"My name is Ben," he says, and he can't help but return Mr. Spee's bright smile.

"A pleasure to meet you, young Ben," he says, rubbing his dog's head. "My name is Donald Spee, and this here is my precious baby girl, Coconut."

Ben waves at the dog, and much to his delight, she waves back. 

Mr. Spee checks his watch, gasping lightly. "I am terribly sorry, but it is long after Coconut's naptime. I need to ready the tea pot for when she awakes." He grins at Ben, reaching to shake his hand. "I hope we meet again, young Ben!"

The black haired man smiles weakly, shaking the elder's hand. "Me too," he replies, and God snorts again, causing him to shoot her a disapproving look.

"Toodle loo," Mr. Spee yells when he's a little way off, and God sighs dramatically.

"No matter what I say or do, he just won't go," she exclaimed, pulling at her dark hair. Ben looks down at her, a slight flush on his cheek from the prolonged conversation. 

"Mr. Spee seems like a very nice man," he says, and God stomps her feet, snapping her fingers as she makes her bike normal again.

"Doesn't matter if he's nice or not," she quips. "He doesn't understand my simple instructions. Spee should be haunting his relatives, not taunting the afterlife." Ben shuts his mouth immediately, looking at the ground nervously. God sighs.

"Sorry, I just don't want to talk about that old man anymore…" she says, throwing her head back, exasperated. Ben rubs his neck apologetically.

He watches as God climbs onto her bike, gripping the handlebars as she turns to look at him. 

"Go do something useful with your life, Hargreeves," she says. "I just felt a soul enter the world, so I have 'God things' to do now."

Ben stares at her in disbelief. "So you're leaving?" he asks, already waving at her.

She shrugs, not bothering to return his gesture as she pedals down the street to the path they first met. 

And then, for the first time since entering the afterlife, Ben is completely alone.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are greatly appreciated!


End file.
